Health officials: The Ebola outbreak in Guinea is unprecedented
Kjell Gunnar Beraas/MSF


An Ebola virus outbreak that has killed 78 people in Guinea is remarkable for a few reasons: the disease isn't primarily in one location, but rather spread across the country; it is the first time it's been detected in Guinea; and experts have no clue how it got there. "We will manage to contain this outbreak in a short amount of time, but it's difficult to say [how long] at the moment," Esther Sterk, a tropical medicine adviser for Doctors Without Borders, said in an interview with NPR.
Ebola is transmitted by close contact via bodily fluids (many become sick after caring for someone who already has it), and is thought to hide in certain types of bats. "In the areas where Ebola has occurred, the people eat bush meat — sometimes bats, monkeys... that is a way the virus may be introduced into the population," Sterk said. "So, the message in Guinea is: Don't eat bats; don't eat monkeys; don't touch sick or dead animals."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last year
speed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive order
speed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study finds
Speed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influence
Speed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreads
Speed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows